Transylvania 6-5000

You (and Bugs Bunny) never know where Bugs is going to wind up when he goes for one of his occasional underground trips. He usually winds up saying, "I must have made a wrong turn at Albuquerque." Here, Bugs winds up on top of a stone mountain in "Pittsburghe, Transylvania" (actually spelling in the cartoon.)

The first "person" Bugs meets is a two-headed female vulture (named "Emily" and "Agatha") who has two hats on! "Doesn't he look delicious," says one of the heads to the other. Bugs decides to scram and to "head up to that hotel over there," a big haunted house where "Count Bloodcount" resides.

From that point on, there are some great sight gags such as noose for a doorbell ringer, a picture on the wall of "mother" as an upside-down bat and all the Gothic-bizarre "interesting decor" (as Bugs puts it) in the castle. This cartoon is a great feast for the eyes! Check out the titles of all the books on the shelf about Bugs' bed.

The artwork and colors in this restored cartoon are fabulous; some of the best I've ever seen. So, with the tons of fun sights and dialog by Bugs and beautiful artwork, it all adds up to one of Mr. Bunny's best cartoons for sheer enjoyment.

This Bugs Bunny is one of the better Bugs shorts done in the 1960s, when Warners cartoons were starting to vary greatly in terms of quality. This one is reasonably good and can actually compare favorably with the earlier work. Having Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble helps. Cartoon fans may notice slight but notable similarities to a later Inspector Clouseau short, Transylvania Mania. The similarities can be explained by the fact that both shorts were written by John Dunn, who wrote for Warners, MGM and Depatie-Freleng in the 1960s! He was definitely kept busy. More verbal jokes than usual but a fair number of sight gags. Worth Watching. Recommended.

Like so many Bugs Bunny episodes, the biped grey rabbit arrives in the middle of nowhere, where he does not want to be - and this time he has arrived in Transylvania! Here he meets Count BloodCount and the strange man lets him stay the night. Tremendous plot-turns and gags follow...

I may prefer the early Bugs Bunny (the rabbit in "Porky's Hare Hunt" and "Prest-O Change- O"), but I also like him in his later episodes. In this period of the 20th century Bugs was nice, but Daffy was absolutely horrible. I feel quite "safe" to watch Bugs Bunny episodes from any time in his episodes, especially one without the annoying Daffy of the 60's. I personally thought the gags were not quite as good as they could have been, but there is still lots of good work in this episode.

Also, this was Chuck Jones's last episode...

I recommend this to anyone who is a particular fan of Bugs Bunny, people who would like to see just Bugs Bunny and some new side characters in an episode and do not mind pretty bad animation in a cartoon. Enjoy! :-)

Over his career as a cartoon director at Warner's, Chuck Jones crafted quite a few eerie cartoons, including a Sylvester-Porky trilogy which began with "Scaredy Cat." Jones never got around to putting the terrified cat and naive pig in a vampire's lair, but let Bugs take that turn instead. Bugs, like Porky in the earlier films, seems to be unaware of the danger he's in. He remains cheerful, and much of the film's humor comes from the way he maintains his aplomb against a shadowy background of coffin-shaped doorways, skull-and-bone carvings, and rotting drapes.

The vampire he faces is not a generic Lugosi/Dracula type. Count Bloodcount is a distinctive character in his own right thanks to voice artist Ben Frommer and a crew of talented animators with Ken Harris foremost among them. Co-director Maurice Noble encouraged layout man Bob Givens and background artist Phil DeGuard to devise scenes which would have had Sylvester wide-eyed and shuddering. Musician William Lava used his ominous style to lend suitable aural touches to this frightfully good cartoon.

-Tony

For me, Transylvania 6-5000 is one of the better 1960s Bugs Bunny cartoons, because it is just so clever, managing to both spooky and entertaining sometimes at once too. The story is a clever one, and sets the atmosphere flawlessly. The animation is deliciously dark and edgy, and the backgrounds and characters are all drawn brilliantly. The music is excellent, creepy and quirky as I expected. There is some funny dialogue, but even better were the sight gags. I honestly lost count at how much I laughed at the sight gags alone. Bugs is great as he nearly always is, while the supporting characters are also very well done, and the voice work from all involved especially from Mel Blanc, with honourable mention to Ben Frommer who is brilliant as the Count, is spot-on. Overall, spooky and entertaining, just brilliant. 10/10 Bethany Cox